If Coll had touched her, Hector swore that he would not live long enough to regret it.
Chapter 9
Flora fought to control the panic rising in her chest. But it was dark and cold, and danger seemed to permeate the night like a heavy wet plaid. The knowledge that it was likely all in her mind drew little comfort. She knew well what she risked.
A sharp wind blew across the rocky crags, peppering her face with droplets of sea spray and filling her nose with the sharp salty tang of the ocean, though the blustery wind wasn’t strong enough to keep the mist at bay. As gray and soupy as gruel, it was a double-edged sword. The mist would help cloak her escape from the watchful eye of the guards, but it would also make navigating the treacherous sound even more perilous.
I can do this,she told herself. The Isle of Mull was close enough to see the heather and bluebells carpeting the hillsides; the boat—really more of a skiff—was small enough for her to manage on her own.
She had no choice. She had to leave this place. After what had happened today in the laird’s solar, she could not stay another day. Disappointment still burned in her throat. He was just like everyone else, wanting to use her for his own ends. Her chest tightened, leaving her amazed by how much it still hurt.
She was a fool. No man would ever be able to see beyond the prize.
She took another step down the path and felt the rocks give way beneath her foot. Her arms reached out wildly in the night air for something to hold on to. For a long, hair-raising moment, she thought she might slide off the cliff. Somehow she managed to regain her balance, but she couldn’t prevent the small landslide of rocks from tumbling down the hill.
A dog barked. And then another.
She stood stone still, ears cocked, heart pounding in her chest as she waited to see whether the noise would draw the attention of the guards. Not for the first time, she cursed the flimsy satin slippers that would have been perfect for a wedding but had little traction on the slick pathway. With few women at the castle, more appropriate shoes had not been available. For the second time, those once beautiful shoes could ruin everything.
A minute passed, and finally, hearing no voices, she exhaled.
Although it was well past midnight, a castle never slept. Guards were always stationed around thebarmkinwall, ready for an attack. It was her luck that they hadn’t anticipated an escape. Hiding in the shadows of the keep, she’d lain in wait for her opportunity. It had taken some time, but finally, with the changing of the guard, she was able to slip across the courtyard and through the gate before the porter had made his rounds, locking it for the night.
Now with even greater care after her near disastrous tumble, she worked her way slowly down the steep path to the small inlet where she’d noticed the skiff. Every detail of that day was forever branded on her consciousness. It was the day he’d kissed her with such passion and awakened her desire from its innocent slumber. The day she’d allowed herself to hope.
She shook off the memory. That was before she’d learned the truth.
Her feet sank deep into sand as she stepped onto the beach. The mist had dissipated enough to make out the shadow of a large object a short way down the beach. Exactly where she remembered it. She sighed with relief.
Her pulse quickened as she drew nearer. Tentatively. Every nerve ending set on edge. Wishing there were another way. But the sea was her only hope of success. The laird stabled a small number of horses within thebarmkinin a small enclosure built against the north side of the wall, but she’d never be able to steal a horse without being seen. On foot, she would never be able to outrun them. Not across the rugged open terrain of Morvern. A place of endless vistas of barren moorland and dangerous peat bogs, without the cover of trees in which to hide.
It had to be the boat.
She swallowed the well of panic rising in her throat as, unbidden, the memories assailed her. It was a long time ago, but the memory of her near drowning was as strong as if it had happened only yesterday.
She’d been seven, staying at Inveraray for the summer with her aunt and uncle, the former Earl of Argyll. The occasion had been a wedding feast for her cousin Archie, the present earl, and the first time all of her brothers—and even a few of her sisters—had all been in the same place at the same time. She’d wanted desperately to impress them, so when she saw them going to the loch for a swim one morning, she’d traipsed along after them. When Rory had asked her whether she knew how to swim, knowing they wouldn’t let her go if she said no, she’d nodded confidently.
Everything had been fine. She’d taken off her stockings and slippers and plunged her toes in the cool water. The rest of the group was in the middle of the loch, splashing and diving and laughing. Curious to hear what they were saying, she’d taken a few more steps toward them. And then a few more. And then…promptly dropped into a black void.
She’d never forget the feeling of the dark, suffocating water closing over her, filling her nose, her mouth, her lungs. There was a moment where the world stilled—where what was happening didn’t seem real. Where every second extended for a minute. She paddled her arms and for a moment bobbed near the surface, before the weight of her body dragged her down like a rock.
She remembered thinking how dark and murky it was and how she couldn’t even see her hands in front of her face. She remembered thinking how angry her mother would be that Flora had lied. But most of all, Flora remembered not being able to breathe.
She was lucky. Her struggle, the single splash that she’d managed above the surface, had been witnessed by her brother Alex. Her brothers, all four of them—for William had still been alive then—reached her just in time. The water had been over ten feet deep, and Rory said later that she’d been lying on the bottom, curled up like a mermaid—or theMaighdean na Tuinne,as he called them.
She’d never forget her mother’s tears or her brothers’ collective anger. She’d never seen them so unified. To a one, they’d been furious that she’d lied to them. Even Alex had yelled at her. Her excuse that they wouldn’t have allowed her to come if they knew the truth had been met by deaf ears.
The next time the group went to the loch, she stayed at the castle.
A pattern, it seemed, that was repeated ever after.
Her gaze fell to the skiff, resting peacefully on its side a few feet up from the water’s edge.
She steeled herself against the sudden flash of panic.I can do this.
Her fear of the water wasn’t usually an issue, since she’d been raised mostly in the Lowlands. Not the way it would be in the Isles, where Highlanders ruled the vast seaways on theirbirlinnslike their Norse ancestors before them. Their prowess on the water was part of their way of life. Yet another reason she didn’t belong here.
Indeed, the journey a few weeks ago was the first time she’d been in a boat in years. She’d been fine. She’d hoped that maybe her fear had lessened, but now she knew better. It wasLachlanwho’d abated her fear. His presence had made the difference. Even then, she’d intuitively trusted his strength.
